The following article appeared in the 1999 membership directory of the Advertising & Design Club of Canada:
The Les Usherwood Award
By Janet MacKenzie
The prestigious Les Usherwood Award is given annually to an individual in recognition of "a lifetime of excellence in the field of communication arts." As the award itself states, "the recipient of this certificate has proven worthy of the highest honour the industry can bestow." The winner is chosen by a committee of professionals not currently on the board of the Advertising & Design Club of Canada. The presentation takes place at the awards show each fall.
Who was Les Usherwood? Trained in England as a lettering artist, he immigrated to Canada in 1957 with his wife Elsie. He worked first at Photo Engravers & Electrotypers, Art Associates and Art & Design Studios, but is probably best remembered in the Canadian design and advertising community for his years at Typesettra Ltd., which he co-founded in 1968 with David Thomason.
Les shared his enthusiasm and high standards with his coworkers and his clients, educating everyone about the difference fine typography could make. He brought that same meticulous attention to detail and instinct for choosing typefaces to his own type designs, producing such elegant faces as Caxton, Graphis, Denby and Usherwood.
In 1983, at the age of 51, Les died of a heart attack. A dedication in the annual of the Toronto Art Directors Club later that year said, simply: He was a gentleman. He was a craftsman. As a type designer, he was the shining light. For what he taught us and for what he gave us.